Dual occupancy cradle

ABSTRACT

A cradle for use by two adults simultaneously. More specifically it is easily portable equipment for accomodation of one prone person and for supporting the weight of a superimposed prone adult person, the item consisting essentially of an upholstered base with a hammock swung thereover. The item is collapsible and the height of the hammock is adjustable. The disclosure includes a foot rest or bench which may be used concurrently.

United States Patent Gallant [4 1 June 13, 1972 [54] DUAL OCCUPANCYCRADLE 2,986,747 6/1961 Posey ..5/327 R 1,217,246 2/1917 Wallace........297/439 [72] Inventor: Benue Edward Gallant, 860 Lonng Street, 3 4223 196 B San g Calif- 92109 72, 10/ 9 amo 128/30 221 Filed: June 12,1970 Primary Examinef-Bebby Gay Assistant Examiner-Andrew M. Calvert PP45,709 Attorney-Knox & Knox 52 us. Cl ..5/327, 5/338, 128/1, [57]ABSTRACT 128/79 A cradle for use by two adults simultaneously. Morespecifi- [51] Int. Cl. ..A47c 21/00, A47c 9/00 cally it is easilyportable equipment for accomodation of one [58 Field of Search ..128 33,78, 80, 1; 5/81, 83, prone person and for pp ing the e gh of a primposed 5 92 7 327 337 333; 97 33 439; 2 53 prone adult person, theitem consisting essentially of an upholstered base with a hammock swungthereover. The item is col- 56 R f C-ted lapsible and the height of thehammock is adjustable. The dis- 1 e erences l closure includes a footrest or bench which may be used con- UNITED STATES PATENTS currently-924,075 6/1969 1 Johnson ..5/327 R 7 Claims, 3 Drawing figuresPATENTEDJUH 13 I972 3, 668 722 Fig. 2

INVENTOR. BERNIE E. GALLANT BY WSW DUAL OCCUPANCY CRADLE BACKGROUND orTHE INVENTION In the past there have apparently been numerous devicesdeveloped very privately by some wealthy persons to minister to theirneeds and whims in the matter of the most private facet of family life,but there is no known large production of any equipment for the specificpurpose of supporting the weight of the superimposed love partner. Theconcept is, of course, simply to permit maximum freedom of the lowerpositioned partner, while said superimposed partner is supported and canremain relaxed. The prior art does include devices to support bed-riddenpatients but such items are strictly for one person and they are notself-contained and portable and they are usually or always necessarilyattached or attachable to the bed-frame.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As claimed, this invention is discrete from abed frame and in fact may be employed independently of a bed, beingessentially a base with side posts upstanding at the sides of the baseand supporting a hammock. The hammock is represented as of flexiblematerial, ordinarily fabric, and the posts and base are upholstered.Refinements include making the item collapsible and making the hammockvertically adjustable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of thecomplete cradle; FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof; and FIG. 3 is asectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A base which will begenerally flat is constructed of sturdy material such as plywood and mayhave any desired planform with opposite parallel edge portions 12 uponwhich two posts 14 are secured. The posts may be secured in various waysand in the illustrated form they are attached by hinges 16 which must beof sturdy construction and firmly anchored on the posts and base so thatthe posts can be erected as shown in FIG. I but are held against furtherinward movement toward each other.

To and between the posts when so erected, a hammock 18 is mounted. Thishammock may be constructed of any suitable strong fabric or equivalentmaterial but is preferably always flexible. Terminal T-hangers 20 areillustrated as means to support the hammock, the T-hangers having crossbars 22 and shanks 24 with enlargements 26 thereon and wing nuts 28 totighten the T-bars on the posts 14. Each post has a plurality of spacedopenings to accept a shank 24, the illustrated openings being slots 30inclined to discourage inadvertent disconnection should the wing nutswork loose.

The entire base and posts may be upholstered if desired but the upperface of the base should be upholstered as should the inside surfaces ofthe posts as indicated at 32 and 34, respectively, in the interest ofcomfort as well as for aesthetic reasons.

The manner of employing this invention need not be elaborated uponexcept to point out that the hammock is used to support the superimposedpartner in a reasonably relaxed position and permitting considerablefreedom of movement by the other partner. When not in use the hammock isdisconnected and the posts are folded flat on the base as indicated at36.

I claim:

1. Amanually portable cradle accomodating an adult person and asuperimposed adult person, comprising:

a base of generally flat plate form and dimensioned for easy portabilityand capable, during use, of lying flat upon a bed or other generallyplanar supporting surface without attachment thereto; a pair of erectopposed posts mounted on and supported solely by said base and spacedapart for comfortable accomodation therebetween of the midsection of anadult person lying on said base; and

a hammock hung on and between upper portions of said posts and capableof extending across and supporting the midsection of a superimposedadult person.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said posts are shiftable intoparallelism with said base to facilitate storage of the cradle.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said posts are hinged to saidbase.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said hammock is verticallyadjustably mounted on said posts.

5. Apparatus according to claim I wherein said posts each have aplurality of vertically spaced openings therein and said hammock hasterminal hangers securable selectively in said openings.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said base and posts areupholstered.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said hammock is flexible.

1. A manually portable cradle accomodating an adult person and asuperimposed adult person, comprising: a base of generally flat plateform and dimensioned for easy portability and capable, during use, oflying flat upon a bed or other generally planar supporting surfacewithout attachment thereto; a pair of erect opposed posts mounted on andsupported solely by said base and spaced apart for comfortableaccomodation therebetween of the midsection of an adult person lying onsaid base; and a hammock hung on and between upper portions of saidposts and capable of extending across and supporting the midsection of asuperimposed adult person.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 whereinsaid posts are shiftable into parallelism with said base to facilitatestorage of the cradle.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein saidposts are hinged to said base.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 whereinsaid hammock is vertically adjustably mounted on said posts. 5.Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said posts each have a pluralityof vertically spaced openings therein and said hammock has terminalhangers securable selectively in said openings.
 6. Apparatus accordingto claim 1 wherein said base and posts are upholstered.
 7. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said hammock is flexible.